Modders are turning a 50kg iron radiator into a Victorian PC

Not every computer build aims to create the most optimized, most compact or best performing system possible. Sometimes a modder tries to create something crazy just because he can. That’s the spirit of Billet Labs’ latest project, which is turning a massive 50kg radiator into a liquid-cooled PC.

The Victorian era radiator is made entirely of iron, resulting in a historic piece that is beautiful to look at but tricky to move. Still, the Billet Labs modders decided to build a complete computer underneath the huge and heavy equipment.

Obviously, as the creators’ posts on Instagram reveal, the project wouldn’t be as interesting if the “stuff” was just used as a cabinet or support for the components. In fact, the idea is to have the radiator performing its correct function, offering liquid cooling for the computer mounted underneath it.

At the time we write this post, most of the computer is already assembled and we can see how its connections will be exposed. The modders prepare the most difficult part, which is distributing customized copper pipes to guide water from the heatsinks to the impressive radiator.

Differentiated PC resembles another unusual cooling “solution”

While Billet Labs wanted to use a time warp solution to create an unexpected PC, at the beginning of the year we had a modder from China taking a more modern path: incorporating a 12,000 BTU air conditioner into the system.

Using an air conditioner itself is probably more effective than a rococo radiator, but even the 50kg piece of equipment seems a little more manageable for moving around.

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This type of different mod, obviously, is never aimed at practical use, but rather to exercise creativity and see what kind of crazy results emerge. The practice is not even limited to PCs, and we have also seen a Steam Deck become a Steam Brick, and a PS1 become a PlayStation.